Paper: 07, Business Communication Module: 9, Types of Reading Items Description of Module Subject Name Management Paper Name Business Communication Module Title Types of Reading Module Id Module no- 9 Pre- Importance and Steps of Reading Proficiency Requisites Objectives To understand what are the different types of reading. To know the advantages and disadvantages of speed reading. To learn how different software‘s aids in e reading. Keywords Reading, types , speed, skimming, studying, e reading QUADRANT-I 1. Module 8: Importance & Steps of Reading 2. Learning Outcomes 3. Introduction 4. Types of Reading 5. Reading with different pace 6. Reading & Computers 7. Summary 1. Module 9: Types of Reading 2. Learning Outcomes: By the end of this module, students will be able to Understand the different types of reading. Know the advantages and disadvantages of speed reading. Learn how different software‘s aids in e-reading. 3. Introduction Reading is a vital skill, without reading it is difficult to gain knowledge almost every person can benefit from some type of reading. As reading is a skill that is important to nearly every job, whether it is a desk job or a marketing job, for an engineer, a researcher, a pilot or a doctor. It is an area which every professional should examine closely as by reading newspaper, journals, magazines they get to know about the recent procedures, styles, trends and even the customer‘s requirements. Therefore, employees spend an average of half their work time reading some or other things and if they could improve their reading efficiency they could greatly improve productivity. ―We used to pick up the telephone. Now we e-mail. Reading and writing are more important than ever.‖ - Gloria Pincu, president of Basic Learning Systems, a training firm in Plantation. 4. Types of Reading Reading is not that simple. It is not only about looking through the content, but also to understand and comprehend it. The various types of reading are given below: Sampling Comprehension Labelling Types of Reading Scanning Skimmimg 4.1 Sampling Sampling is a reading type useful in deciding the relevant material for people to read. For that it is important to read the preface or foreword, contents page, beginning and conclusion. By this time a reader can take the decision whether to read the entire material, or a part of it from between, or the review. 4.2 Labelling It is a type of reading that does not focus on the details of the entire text, an article or a book. When time is not sufficient to go through the details but still one wants to have an overall idea of what the concept is all about. For example if people want to read news paper but have less time, they will at least try to read the headings, look at the pictures and to any attractive graph or non verbalcomponent to roughly build an idea on the activities, events and accomplishments of the day. 4.3 Skimming Source: Viernes (2012) ―Skimming & Scanning‖, available online at http://tecnicasdelecturavelozer.blogspot.in/2012/04/skimming-and-scanning.html Skimming is where the reader reads quickly taking minimum pauses, and do not attempt to look into all the details and focus on the central idea and connected details of the text message. While skimming the focus is just on the starting line or the last line of any paragraph and quickly viewing the subheadings and pictures, to get an overall idea. 4.4 Studying Studying is more serious of all types of reading. When reading a technical, business orscientific document of greater importance which the readerhave to store itinhis/her permanent memory, and might have to reproduce, use, refer, apply the knowledge associated to it, then we may say that the reader is actually studying the material. Studying a text involves almost all the techniques of reading. When readingfor the first time, it is important to identify its major and associated ideas, underline the main ideas and to make notes,and then to prepare a paraphrase or summary of the text. To summarize, elimination of unimportant detailsand substitution of longer descriptions with suitable idioms and one word substitutes is required. The lucidity and logic in the text should not be lost. The next phase is interpreting the text where the need is to thoroughly understand the central and associated ideas, tone and intention of the author. Such type of reading would enable in understanding the major, minor ideas of the text, comprehend the use of language in the text, distinguish between explicit and implicit information, and draw inferences and conclusions. 4.5Summarizing It is a process where the readercompact the length of the original text; a good summary would be one third of the original text. While readingone should identify some important points, either underline or mark a note of them in a note book. Understand the logical ordering of idea and consistency of the text. Hence, after reviewing one can start writing the summary with lowest amountof words. This is possible only when you can substitute many words with a single word;eliminate unnecessary details, descriptions, and examples. The lucidity and clarity have to be maintained. 4.6Scanning Source: Viernes (2012) ―Skimming & Scanning‖, available online at http://tecnicasdelecturavelozer.blogspot.in/2012/04/skimming-and-scanning.html Scanning is a type of reading that gives the reader sufficient time to look into the central idea and the supplementary ideas linked with it. The reader should carefully look for necessary details. This is an advanced skill that can be polished. To gain expertise in scanning: The first step is to know the purpose before you read. Adequate concentration is also an essential requirement. The ability to use guides and aids, and ability to understand the organizational procedures All this may help in improving scanning skills. As a student and as a professional when someone is reading reference material they are supposed to comprehend, explain, describe, differentiate and summarize the required material. Scanning is the skill useful in this regard. Much knowledge can be acquired by focusing on the specific part of the text that contains the necessary information and avoid the rest. 4.7Comprehension Reading with comprehension helps in understanding the concept, grasping the important data and acquiring knowledge. As words may carry different connotation; the direct meaning or the applied meaning depending on the context, emphasis, etc therefore reading with comprehension assist in analyzing the right meaning of words. Comprehending Passages: There are techniques for better comprehension: Read the passage to get its general meaning, and note down the main points. Read all the questions attentively and look for answers. Be precise and to the point in answering the questions. Be cautious about the usage of grammar, spelling and punctuation. This ability can be acquired through intensive and disciplined practice. Different types of reading aims to aid you in various ways; acquiring knowledge, defining, listing things, describing, identifying specific material, showing or quoting any specific matter. To be familiar with this entire thing one should assess the overall purpose of the text, the central idea or theme, and logical organization of the ideas. The reading materials are generally newspapers, magazines, books, encyclopaedias etc. 5. Reading with different pace According to Edward Fry, it is observed that there are three reading speeds ‗study, reading speed, average reading speed and skimming speed. Grading of each of them is given below: Speed Poor Reader Good Reader (a) Study Reading 90-125 WPM2 200-300 wpm 80 to 90 comprehension 80 to 90 comprehension (b) Average reading 150-180 wpm 250-500 wpm 70 comprehension 70 comprehension 800+ WPM (c) Skimming Cannot Skim 50 Comprehension Source: Das, B. &Satpathy, I. (2007) Business Communication & Personality Development, Excel book‘s publication. The study reading speed is used for reading material that deals with difficult arguments, ideas and notions, etc. This kind of reading aims at almost total comprehension and retention of what has been read. A good study reader can read 200 to 300 words per minute. Similarly, the ‗average reading speed‘ is the speed used for reading newspapers, magazines, novels, etc. A good average reading speed is 250 words per minute. ‗Skimming is recognized as the fastest reading speed‘. A good reader is one who, keeping his purpose in mind can quickly attain the required speed. 5.1 Speed Reading In fact, it is never too late to improve one‘s speed of reading.Many reading trainers do not want to be associated with the term ‗speed reading‘ because of the negative association it has gained over the years. Most trainers say they teach people how to read faster but that their methods include many other things more than just training in speed reading. Some Ambiguous notions related to speed reading are: 5.1.1 Lack in Comprehension: It is a misleading idea that ‗when reading speed increases, comprehension suffers‘. Therefore, to improve speedone must try to cultivate the habit of looking at larger groups of words and of moving ahead faster. The wider one‘s ‗eyes span‘, the greater will be his or her speed to comprehend. 5.1.2 Finger Pacing on words: Another deceptive belief is the habit which slows down reading speed is the ‗practice of pointing at the words with pencil, pen or finger‘ and going back to words which have already been read. This is truly a myth as we have the example of Evelyn Wood, a teacher who is said to read 5,000 wpm by dragging her finger along the page as a pacer. Speed reading gained reputation when President John F.